


Dragons and Angels

by ca_te



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-16
Updated: 2012-07-16
Packaged: 2017-11-10 02:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/461147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ca_te/pseuds/ca_te
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ygraine dies, Arthur and Merlin try to imagine the place where everyone keeps saying that she has gone.<br/>(A "Slipping through time" spin-off)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragons and Angels

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first spin-off for my series "Slipping through time", but it can also be read as a stand-alone piece. I wanted to write Arthur and Merlin as kids so badly and this is the result. Let me know what you think! :)
> 
> Warnings: Kids' perspective on religious concepts

“Won’t she feel lonely?”

Arthur tries not to grip the white rose in his hand too tight; he doesn’t want to ruin it.

“There are going to be a lot of nice people where she is now.”

Merlin’s eyes are big underneath his messy hair.

“I know but dad and I are not there with her…”

He has tried to imagine this place where everyone says his mother has gone, but he can’t.

There are so many things he can’t picture. Is there going to be a lot of light? Are there flowers? Is she still sick? No one seems to be able to answer to those questions, though. Every time his father simply shakes his head and walks out of the room after having petted his hair, quickly and absentmindedly.

Merlin is the one who listens, sitting on the floor of his parents’ bedroom, surrounded by his mother’s clothes and jewels that Uther intends to give away. Together they try to imagine how the place where Ygraine is living now looks like.

_“Maybe there are dragons!”_

_“Merlin, there can’t be dragons in heaven!”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because they are evil! And they breath fire!”_

_“No, they’re not! They are beautiful!”_

_“But don’t they scare the angels away?”_

_“Dragons and angels are friends. Your mom is surely going to be an angel and the dragons will love to spend time with her.”_

There are many people standing around them, his father and Hunith and so many others that Arthur has never seen before or whose faces he doesn’t remember. They are all dressed in black and he thinks that his mom wouldn’t have liked it. Her dresses were always colourful, she loved red the most- she looked beautiful in it.

A man is talking about pains that end and joy that shines at the end of the path, of someone up there who is merciful and loves all those who live on this Earth. Arthur doesn’t understand why his mom couldn’t have remained here, he loved her as much as God loves her, more even. Why did he want her for himself.

Merlin’s hand finds his, small and cold in the winter air. Arthur keeps his gaze focused on the coffin as it is lowered in the ground and clings to it.

When the moment comes he throws the rose on the polished wood, as his father told him to.

Merlin doesn’t let go of his hand as they walk back to the cemetery’s gate; he doesn’t let go as they sit in the car and Uther drives in silence.

That night Merlin sleeps over, they lie under the duvet in Arthur’s bed, hands clasped between their small bodies.

“You think she is thinking of me?”

“She is always thinking of you, Arthur.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I know it!”

Arthur turns his head on the pillow and looks at Merlin, even though the darkness in the room makes it difficult to see clearly.

“Do you think she has already made friends with some of the dragons?”

Merlin nods enthusiastically, the bed shifting and the sheets rustling.

“Of course! And the angels love her.”

Arthur lets a small smile stretch his lips and squeezes Merlin’s hand a bit tighter.


End file.
